For thirty years – from 1934 to 1964 – United States Lines awarded its employees a pair of decorations called the United States Lines Distinguished Service Medal and the United States Lines Distinguished Service Award. Both were primarily awards for heroism in lifesaving; and among American steamship companies, they were the first of such ongoing awards in the industry. This essay will trace the award’s history and will describe each medal. A separate page holds a list of all known individuals who are recipients of either medal.
The United States Lines Distinguished Service Medal and Award raison d’être evoked the Congressional Gold and Silver Lifesaving Medals. The latter two’s legislation came in 1874 as awards solely for the United States Life-Saving Service for heroics involved in a rescue from the sea, making them the first federal civilian medal for heroism. By 1897, any person in Federal service, the military, or not was eligible to receive it. Their establishment made them alongside the Congressional Medal of Honor, the oldest continuously awarded medals in the United States to date.
Saving a life at sea was no easy feat, and could very well have resulted in the loss of one’s own, thus emphasizing the symbolic importance of the Lifesaving Medal. The medal came in two classes, which represented either the personal risk to the rescuer or the rescuer’s role. Often, a single rescuer earned a Gold Medal if they did a rescue alone at great peril to themselves; if several people were involved in a rescue – as in a lifeboat party – often, the officer in charge received a Gold Medal and the oarsmen, a Silver Medal. In cases such as the latter, the group received just accolades as a team. The Gold Lifesaving Medal stood as an equal with the Congressional Medal of Honor – the highest military award in the United States – for almost half a century. Only with the expansion of military awards after the First World War did the Lifesaving Medal lose its prominence within the military. Over time, it slowly slid down past meritorious service and combat medals. However, it remains the highest honor Congress may bestow on civilians; one noted recipient of this medal even received a ticker-tape parade when his ship docked in New York Harbor.
The above example once belonged to Captain Elmer Stull of Merchant Marine Distinguished Medal fame. At the time of award, his Merchant Marine Distinguished Service Medal (MM DSM) held less prestige than the Lifesaving medal, the latter being a “Medal of Honor.” The more militant of the maritime unions painted the MM DSM as an empty token. They held it was not truly representative of the work everyone did together to make its award possible when the decoration went to a ship’s captain alone; one awardee of the MM DSM admirably attempted to gain recognition for his shipmates, but recognition fell short.
The institution of the Lifesaving Medal inaugurated a precedent for the creation of other, similar federal lifesaving medals. First came the “Railroad Lifesaving Medal” as legislated for in the 1905 “Medals of Honor Act” for heroism in connection with train wrecks. And, in 1931 came the “Air Mail Flyers’ Medal of Honor” for:
[A]ny person who, while serving as a pilot in the air mail service since May 15, 1918, has distinguished, or who, after the approval of this Act, distinguishes himself, by heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in such service…
Public Law 661, 71st Congress, 1931
Currents at the time saw a proliferation of lifesaving awards. Following the Federal government’s lead, New York State instituted medals for its Volunteer Lifesaving Corps in the early 1900s, with Steamship companies doing the same in the 1920s and 1930s. In this spirit of civic and corporate pride, the United States Lines Board of Directors established the United States Lines Distinguished Service Medal in 1934. The establishment of the medal filled a gap in recognition for lifesaving. Although the Federal government and benevolent societies did give out medals for lifesaving, they were often for stellar performance in an event; whereas the USL’s medals enabled the company to control the messaging and award those it felt deserving. USL’s awards – for the most part – did not overlap with federal recognition; in fact, no USL personnel received a medal from the Federal government. While the Lifesaving medal was exacting in the conditions for its award:
Saving of a life or giving succor does not in itself entitle a person to a medal. The medals can be given in only instances in which exceptional bravery has been displayed, or in which unusual effort or some great personal sacrifice has been made. It should be further noted that the saving of persons from drowning in waters wholly within a State, and not forming a part of me navigable waters of the United States, or in small inland streams, ponds, pools, etc., does not entitle the rescuers to medals.
United States Lines was less strict in its definition for the USL DSM:
[It is] an award for valor in the performance of duty.
Although United States Lines (USL) had no established conditions for the award, it came in two classes: Medal and Award. The award of both the United States Lines Distinguished Service Medal (USL DSM) and the United States Lines Distinguished Service Award (USL DSA), was reasonably consistent. A ship’s commanding officer and the leading officer aboard lifeboats involved in picking up or extracting the survivors of an accident or trouble at sea received the USL DSM. While the USL DSA went to crewmen aboard the lifeboats. An individual act of bravery, such as leaping over the side of a ship to save a drowning passenger, resulted in the award of a USL DSM regardless of whether the recipient was a crew member or was an officer. For meritorious service, the company always awarded the USL DSM.
The first award of the USL DSM went to Captain George Fried upon his retirement from United States Lines on 20 November 1934. It was ostensibly for a rescue of a crew of fliers the month before, yet just as the U.S. Navy Distinguished Service Medal had become a standard fixture at flag officer retirement ceremonies, so too was this medal. Captain Fried’s was a long career punctuated by eight oceanic rescues – he was a multiple recipient of the Congressional Lifesaving Medal and medals from the Life Saving Benevolent Association of New York; the United States Lines medal was more a celebration of his cumulative rescues. Up until the Second World War, the USL DSM remained a lifesaving medal; on the eve of the war, it became a medal for merit, in addition to keeping its lifesaving component. During the war, its award conditions during the Second World War aligned with those of the MM DSM; those seamen USL nominated to the U.S. Maritime Commission for the award were also awarded the company’s medal. The group valor USL DSM award USL made in 1943 for several of its shipmasters is significant since there was only one medal of merit for Merchant Mariners at the time; records show USL felt its mariners deserved recognition. After the war, and into the 1960s, the expanded conditions remained in effect.
Over the years, USL awarded a recorded 106 USL DSM and USL DSA. The number of both grades is inexact because not all crew lists were present in several press releases. The number of USL DSA is approximate since post-war notices only spoke of a blanket “medal” in several cases. Nevertheless, the number of awards was low and infrequent. The last award came in 1964.
The first half-decade of the award’s existence saw both medals awarded to officers and men. After an interruption of corporate control of the fleet, the first award of the medal went to a ship’s master only with the crew receiving citations and cash disbursements. After a period of relative quiet, a master and lifeboat crew received medals in 1949; 1956 had explicit mention fro USL that all cited individuals received a medal versus a medal or an award medal. After the last wartime award in 1945, the division of medals and awards is pure speculation on my part as the company left no records behind and the press did not distinguish between the two grades – a medal is a medal. The old pre-war codes remained strong in the industry through the Korean War; only afterward did management not take as paternalistic view toward labor as before – which might explain the widespread award of the medal.
Design
On the obverse is the depiction of a ship steaming toward the viewer. Waves break at the prow, and the sun rises behind it – rays streaking across the cloud-covered sky. The ship’s funnel has the company’s livery in red, white, and blue enamels. The DSM has this plaque on a medallion; the DSA omits the medallion and retains the central element.
Dieges and Clust designed and struck all USL DSM and DSA; I suspect all were done in two lots – one pre-war and another post-war. The USL DSM planchet has a different motto in the 1950s, and the suspension ribbon differs from 1951 onward. In terms of the ribbon, blacklight analysis of the ribbon for the 1930s and 1950s medals show no evidence of synthetic threads; the 1950s ribbon bar is of size and construction found in devices from the 1930s as well. The later awarding of exclusively USL DSM could point not to a corporate change in defining bravery, rather headquarters running out of USL DSA and overall expense of striking new medals.
The medals in the 1930s all came suspended on a ribbon of red, white, and blue stripes. The medal configuration on ribbon followed the format used often by civic and fraternal organizations: medal planchet suspended from a drape, and a length of ribbon draped behind the medal. By 1950, the ribbon was reconfigured with the medallion hanging on a drape alone. The DSM came with a ribbon bar.
The reverse of both medals has a blank space between the mottos, where the name of the recipient and date of the qualifying act is engraved.
Medals from the 1930s and 1940s came in a red oxblood leatherette case, and those from the 1950s came in a plain cardboard box. A certificate did not accompany any of the medals.
United States Lines Distinguished Service Medal to James J. Smith (1955)
Material: Gold. 37.3 mm. 28.0 grams. 14 karat.
Obv: Full-on view of an ocean liner with red, white, and blue enameled smoke stack, UNITED STATES LINES DISTINGUISHED SERVICE MEDAL around.
Rev: AWARDED / BY THE / BOARD OF DIRECTORS / TO / JAMES J. SMITH / NOVEMBER 17 1955 / FOR COURAGEOUS AND / MERITORIOUS ACTION / IN THE PERFORMANCE / OF DUTY.
Edge stamped D&C (for Dieges & Clust of New York, Boston, Chicago, and Pittsburgh) 14K.
Suspended on a red, white, and blue ribbon.
In the original cardboard box of issue.
The reverse of this example different than two recorded reverses from 1938 and 1943, in the motto, the title of awardee, and date format:
1938
Rev: AWARDED / BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS / TO / CAPTAIN HAAKON A. PEDERSEN / DEC. 13, 1938 / FOR HEROIC ACTION / IN THE PERFORMANCE / OF DUTY.
1943
Rev: AWARDED / BY THE / BOARD OF DIRECTORS / TO / CAPTAIN HAAKON A. PEDERSEN / FOR HEROIC ACTION / IN THE PERFORMANCE / OF DUTY.
dittybag entry: Medal, United States Lines Distinguished Service Medal
United States Lines Distinguished Service Medal to Philip W. Babcock (1938)
Material: Gold. 37.3 mm. 28.0 grams. 14 karat.
Obv: Full-on view of an ocean liner with red, white, and blue enameled smoke stack, UNITED STATES LINES above, DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD below.
Rev: AWARDED BY THE / BOARD OF / DIRECTORS / TO / PHILIP W. BABCOCK / DEC 13 1938 / FOR HEROIC ACTION / IN THE PERFORMANCE / OF DUTY.
Edge stamped D&C (for Dieges & Clust of New York, Boston, Chicago, and Pittsburgh) 10K.
Suspended on a red, white, and blue ribbon.
dittybag entry: Medal, United States Lines Distinguished Service Award
Table of USL DSM & USL DSA awards 1934-1964
| award year | ship | usl dsm | usl dsa | note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1934 | ss washington | 1 | 12 | |
| 1935 | ss president harding | 1 | ||
| 1937 | ss american merchant | 2 | 6 | |
| 1939 | ss american farmer | 2 | 6 | perhaps more usl dsa recipients |
| 1939 | ss american banker | 1 | 1 | undetermined crew number |
| 1940 | ss washington | 2 | for submarine encounter | |
| 1940 | ss washington | 2 | 3 | for rescue |
| 1943 | group valor awards | 4 | ||
| 1945 | ss nathanael greene | 1 | ||
| 1946 | ss american ranger | 1 | ||
| 1949 | ss pioneer sea | 1 | 13 | crew unnamed; no indication of medal vs award |
| 1951 | ss american counselor | 1 | 9 | no indication of medal vs award |
| 1956 | ss american miller | 10 | no indication of medal vs award | |
| 1956 | ss america | 11 | crew unnamed; no indication of medal vs award | |
| 1960 | ss pioneer main | 15 | crew unnamed; no indication of medal vs award | |
| 1964 | ss american press | 1 | ||
| total | 56 | 50 | 106 |
I owe a great deal of thanks to the American Merchant Marine Museum – without the assistance of Dr. Joshua Smith and Bob Sturm for assisting me in my search for information on these obscure medals.